If there was ever a decade made for weird zombie movies, it was the 1980s.
On a recent episode of the Retro Buzz Podcast, my buddy Curt and I went back through some of the zombie flicks we remember from the decade. The funny thing is, I really wasn’t watching many of these movies in theaters when they originally came out. I was in college, starting a family and doing other things. My big zombie-movie education came later, when VHS rental stores seemed to be everywhere. By the late ’80s and into the ’90s, I was renting just about every horror and zombie movie I could get my hands on.
And honestly, browsing those old video stores was half the fun. Curt remembered the independent mom-and-pop rental shops from his hometown, including one where the owner would sell the old movie posters off the wall for a couple bucks. That’s one of those things you never realized you’d someday miss.
The ’80s were also interesting because filmmakers started stretching the definition of a “zombie movie.” Sometimes you had hundreds of walking corpses. Other times you had scientific experiments, voodoo, alien slugs or just one unfortunate person coming back from the dead.
So if you’re looking for something fun, creepy and gloriously ’80s to watch, here are some of the movies we talked about.
1. Return of the Living Dead — 1985
This was probably the easiest choice on the entire list. Curt called it his favorite zombie movie of the decade, and I’d put it right near the top too. It’s funny, gross, strange and doesn’t take itself too seriously.
It also helped permanently connect zombies with one particular food: brains. During our conversation, we talked about how Return of the Living Dead was the movie that really popularized zombies actually asking for brains instead of simply eating human flesh.
2. Day of the Dead — 1985
George Romero’s Day of the Dead was another one Curt immediately named when we started talking about the decade. It’s part of Romero’s famous series that began with Night of the Living Dead and continued with Dawn of the Dead.
Unlike the comedy-heavy Return of the Living Dead, this one plays the apocalypse much straighter. If you’re looking for classic Romero-style zombies, this belongs on the list.
3. Night of the Creeps — 1986
This one has one of my favorite bizarre zombie explanations: alien slugs.
Little slug-like creatures get inside people and turn them into zombies. That’s enough to make your skin crawl before the movie even gets going.
Curt put Night of the Creeps alongside Day of the Dead and Return of the Living Dead as his three essential ’80s zombie movies. I agreed completely. And you also get Tom Atkins, which never hurts.
4. Night of the Comet — 1984
If someone asked me to show them one movie that simply looks and feels like the 1980s, this might be it.
After a comet passes Earth, most of the population disappears and a handful of survivors are left dealing with zombie-like creatures. There’s also an empty shopping mall, which might be one of the most perfectly ’80s settings imaginable.
Curt remembered watching this one repeatedly on cable and still owns it on Blu-ray. It’s part zombie movie, part science-fiction movie and a giant time capsule of the decade.
5. Re-Animator — 1985
Here’s where the definition of “zombie movie” gets interesting.
Re-Animator isn’t necessarily about massive armies of zombies roaming the streets. Instead, the story revolves around bringing dead people back to life.
As Curt pointed out during the episode, zombie movies don’t always require a giant horde. Sometimes the simple act of reanimating the dead is enough to qualify.
6. City of the Living Dead — 1980
Italian director Lucio Fulci brought a very different style to zombie horror, and City of the Living Dead is a good example.
One bit of trivia from the movie that immediately got my attention was its infamous maggot scene. We talked about the filmmakers using roughly 22 pounds of live maggots, blown toward the actors with a wind machine.
That’s dedication to disgusting your audience.
Fulci’s movies were also considerably more graphic than many mainstream American horror films of the period.
7. The Beyond — 1981
Another Lucio Fulci film, The Beyond goes deep into supernatural horror and is one of those movies that hardcore horror fans seem to discover sooner or later.
Curt had seen far more of Fulci’s work than I had, and our conversation convinced me I’ve got several Italian horror movies I need to catch up on.
8. The Serpent and the Rainbow — 1988
Wes Craven took zombies in an entirely different direction with The Serpent and the Rainbow, starring Bill Pullman.
Instead of a virus, comet or chemical accident, this one digs into Haitian voodoo and the much older legends surrounding people being turned into zombies. That gives it a completely different atmosphere than most of the other movies on this list.
Our discussion also led into the interesting point that the idea of a “zombie” existed long before Hollywood created the familiar flesh-eating movie monster.
9. Dead Heat — 1988
This one’s just fun.
Dead Heat stars Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo, with Vincent Price also appearing in the movie. Treat Williams’ character winds up undead and continues investigating a case with his partner.
With Joe Piscopo involved, you probably already know this isn’t going to be The Exorcist.
It’s one of those wonderfully strange ’80s combinations of horror, action and comedy.
10. House by the Cemetery — 1981
One more Lucio Fulci movie made our discussion. House by the Cemetery isn’t a traditional “thousands of zombies coming after you” story, but it fits into that broader category of the dead refusing to stay dead.
Curt specifically brought it up as another good example of how loosely the zombie label can sometimes be applied.
And We Can’t Forget Michael Jackson’s Thriller
Okay, technically it’s not a feature-length zombie movie.
But you can’t talk about zombies in the 1980s without talking about Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
I still remember sitting in our house in Stillwater when MTV debuted it. This wasn’t just another music video. It felt like a miniature horror movie, and watching those zombies dance became one of the iconic pop-culture moments of the decade.
There’s also a personal connection I’ll never forget. While I was attending Oklahoma State University, Vincent Price came to Stillwater as a guest speaker. Someone in the audience asked him about “Thriller,” and I got to sit there and hear Vincent Price perform his famous spoken part live.
No cell-phone video. No recording. Just a memory.
And I’m pretty happy to have that one.
Three Movies to Start With
There are a surprising number of zombie movies from 1980 through 1989, and as Curt pointed out on the podcast, not all of them are necessarily good. Sometimes that’s part of the fun.
But if you’ve never explored ’80s zombie movies and only want three to start with, Curt and I agreed on these:
Return of the Living Dead
Day of the Dead
Night of the Creeps
Those three give you comedy, gore, classic zombies, bizarre zombie mythology and plenty of that unmistakable 1980s horror-movie atmosphere.
Then add Night of the Comet when you want the full neon-colored, shopping-mall, end-of-the-world ’80s experience.
Zombie movies may be perfect for October, but I’m with Curt on this one: there’s really no wrong time of year to watch a good zombie movie.
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